Tilting lamp.



F. H. VON KELLER.

TILTING LAMP.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 22, 1905.

990,879. I Patented May 2, 1911.

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UNITE STATES PATENT- oFFioE -FREDEBICK H. VON KELLER, OWNEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR 1'0 COOPER/HEWITT ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. 31, CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Single-phase alternating current vapor devicesprovided with a single negative electrode and two or more positive electrodes. are sometimes started by tilting the apparatus so as to bring the negativeelectrode into positive connection with oneor more ofthe main posltlve electrodes or with a supplemental positive electrode which is afterward cut out of operation. The starting of the device takes place when this connection is ruptured as by the separation of a conducting liquid, such as mercury, connecting the respective electrodes. Under these conditions it does not always happen that the rupture takes place at the right moment .for

constituting the electrode which is intendedfor the .negative electrode of the apparatus a true negative electrode. For this reason it is sometimes necessary to tilt or tip the apparatus more than once-in order to insure the proper starting thereof.

The present invention relates to means whereby it is ma'demore certain that a single tilting of the device will initiate a flow of current through the apparatus in a proper direction.

the mercury (if that be the selected conductv ing liquid) flows from the negative electrode to the positive electrodes, whereby the probability of at least one ofthe breaks being accomplished at the opportune 'moment'is increased. In connection withthis construcinvention herein described, Figure 1 being a side elevation ofa' mercury vapor lamp embodying' my invention; and Fig. 2 being a diagram of the circuits employed in connection with the lamp.

=8pecification of Letters Patent. I Application filed September 22, 1905. Serial No. 279,747.

To this end the device is so constructed that several breaks occur whenever TIMING LAMP.

trode thereof, and 3 and 4- are t e positive electrodes. The .latter may be of iron or other solid material, while the former is in Pat-ented'May 2, 1911.

the present instance of mercury. A start-ing electrode, 13, is also provided which is usually made similar in characterto the electrodes 3 and 4. All the electrodes are suitably connected to the external circuit by means of lead-wires. The lamp is supported upon a frame, 5, pivoted at 6 to a support,

7, extending from-the frame, 8, of an electro-ma-gnet, 9, l1aving a core or pole-piece, 10. The frame is itself. of magnetic material and when the magnet is energized it is drawn upward into the dotted line position in Fig. 1 whereby a portion of the mercury constituting the electrode 2 is caused to travel through the tube '1' and into contact with the electrode 3, or an extension thereof. It will be seen that the container at the positive end of the apparatus is formed so as to cause successive rupturesof contact between thestarting electrode 13 and the mercury forming the stream of mercury so that a plurality of breaks takes place thus increasing, as stated above, the liklihood of at least one of the breaks being made at the opportune moment. Thus, since the contact I through. the/mercury between the negative 'electrode, 2, and the stearing electrode, 13, is due to the stream of mercury in the act of flowing from the latter to the former electrode, the effec- 7 tive makes and breaks at or near the starting electrodeanust occur before this stream is interrupted, that is before the excess mercury'has wholly passed out of the negative electrode receptacle. Once this excess mercury has come to rest at the positive end of the lamp it has no further starting effect until it has been returned to the negative.

By referring to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the lamp is supplied from an alternating current source consisting ofthe primary, 11,- and the secondary, 12, of a transformer, the terminals of which are joined te the electrodes 3 and 4. An intermediate point of the secondary-12 is connected through the magnet 9 .to the negative electrode 2. The starting electrode 13 is connected by a conductor, 14, through'a resistance, 15, through a wire leading from one terminal of the secondary 12 to the electrode 4. When the apparatus is tilted into the dotted line position in Fig. 1, the mercury flowing over from the pocket containing the electrode 2 splashes against the starting electrode 13 and appears to cause a number of successive breaks after making its initial contact. In most cases, it is found that on one or the other of the ruptures the apparatus is successfully started.

Assuming now that a rupture has been made in the mercury stream at the proper moment, the current will pass through the break to the true negative end of the apparatus and this current will be transferred by the resisttance 15 to the main electrode 4, and the lamp will not beput out by reason of any subsequent connection inside the apparatus. At the next alternation the electrode 3 will supply current delivered from the secondary 12 and so on.

The resistance, 15, serves the functions of preventing the extinguishing of the apparatus after an initial start during the tilting operation. In the first connection between the stream of mercury and the pin 13 after the initial starting of the lamp a complete metallic circuit is established from the negative ele strode 2 to the source pin 13 and the wire 14:, so that during the alternation when current is not passing through the positive electrode 3 all passage of current through the vapor ceases and the negative electrode resistance is no longer broken down at any point within the container; consequently, must be repeated. The; insertion of the resistance 15 in the conductor 14 prevents this short-circuit between the negative electrode 2 and the pin 13, allowing current to flow to the positive electrode 4 or the positive electrode 3 at appropriate times as though the connectionhetween the negative electrode and thesource were not made through the electrode 13.

' he same invention may be applied to other forms of vapor apparatus besides mercury vapor lamps, as will be readily understood. 4 4

I'Vhile the apparatus is shown and described as being so tilted as to-make and break electrical connection between the negative electrode and the starting electrode, yet it is a fact that the starting operation appears to be .caused by the rupture of the circuit, thus described and the invention is not necessarily confined to an apparatus in which both a plurality of breaks takes place. In other words, assuming a normal connec- 12 through the v the starting operation" negative electrode of conducting tion between a'negative electrode and the starting electrode by means of a bridge of mercury, the invention would be carried out by any arrangement which caused a succession of breaks by a tilting of the apparatus sufficient. to -interrupt the bridge a number of times. I

The operation in actual practice being extremely rapid is difficult to follow with the eye but. seems to be due to a series of actual connections and disconnections between the mercury and the supplemental electrode. 011 the other hand, trial has actually shown the apparatus and method herein described to be very eii ective for starting and it is intended to claim substantially this device whether the actual physical phenomena include positive makes and breaks or the splashing action and the breaking up of the normal flow of the jet causes the actual start- 7 ing of the apparatus.

I do not claim herein the broad idea of utilizing a plurality of interruptions of the circuit between the negative electrode and a starting positive electrode afterward transferring the current flow from the starting electrode to a working positive electrode, as this broader invention was made by another. What I do claim is clearly set forth in the accompanying claim.

I claim as my invention:-

In a vapor device of the tilting type having a plurality liquid. wherein the device is started into operation by the rupture of a stream or layer of conducting li'quid connecting the negative electrode and one or more of the positive electrodes, means for repeatedly making and interrupting the continuity of the circuit of said conducting liquid during a single tilting of the device, and means for preventing the extiuguishment of the device on the reestablishment of the metallic circuit through the device, such means consi ting of a resistance interposed between one side of the circuit supplying the device and one of the positive electrodes.

Signed. at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 11th day of September, A. D. 1905.

Witnesses i WILLrAM Conner,

WM. H. CArEL.

of positive electrodes and a 

